The present disclosure is directed to food sensitivity testing in companion animals.
A common health concern identified by health surveys of several purebred dog clubs is food sensitivity or intolerance. Other than time-consuming feeding trials, which eliminate potential allergic ingredients every several weeks, testing for this disorder uses expensive and unsightly skin patch testing or serum allergy screening that lack specificity.
Delayed food sensitivities in people are extremely common and can be manifested by gastrointestinal, neurological, pulmonary, dermatologic, ear, nose and throat, musculoskeletal, genitourinary, cardiovascular and endocrine problems. Similar clinical problems are manifested in animals with food sensitivities.
Diagnostic testing systems available for humans are typically based on either immunoglobulin E (IgE) or immunoglobulin A (IgA) or a combination of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody or immune complex testing mediated by complement.
The newer test methodologies for humans are run on serum, feces, or saliva and typically use ELISA or other immunoassay platforms such as lateral flow, or latex or bead agglutination, and identify IgG or IgA or immune complex reactions to food ingredients that are mediated by complement, as well as IgA or immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to food ingredients that are elaborated in saliva.
Research has shown that the key to delayed or latent or pre-clinical food sensitivity testing in humans is the identification of the offending IgG or IgA antibodies and immune complexes in serum or feces, and the offending IgA or IgM antibodies in saliva. In fact, antibodies to food ingredients can appear in the saliva before the clinical or gastrointestinal biopsy diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease or “leaky gut syndrome” is made in human patients. Saliva testing can thus reveal the latent or pre-clinical form of food sensitivity. A similar elaboration of IgA or IgM antibody in saliva but not serum pertains to animals with latent or pre-clinical gastrointestinal disease.
Delayed sensitivities in humans are usually revealed as soon as 2 hours or as long as 72 hours after eating, which is the reason it can be difficult to connect the symptoms with a food or foods eaten as long as several days previously. There is a very high correlation between delayed food sensitivity and the amount and frequency of the food consumed.
In human serum testing, food sensitivity reactions in the gut lead to increased blood levels of IgA or IgG directed to these food ingredients. Similarly, the immune complexes being formed from food reactions in the blood adhere to red blood cells and these altered blood cells are then cleared by the body's recticuloendothelial system in the liver and spleen. Individuals having more immune complex on their red blood cells are the ones who suffer from chronic food sensitivities.
In saliva testing, deposition of food antigens or peptides in the gut has been documented in humans to lead to the production of IgA or IgM antibodies in the serum and in secretions such as saliva. In some situations, IgA or IgM antibodies to food ingredients appear in saliva but are not present in serum. So in humans salivary antibodies serve as an indication of a general mucosal immune response and can be induced in people and animals without parallel antibodies being detected in serum.
There is a need to provide for practical and rapid screening or testing for food sensitivity and intolerance to permit enhancement of the health of animals.
Studies have indicated that specialized nutrient intake extends and improves life, delays onset and slows progression of disease, and enhances the quality of life of companion animals.
Changing the proportions of macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients in different nutrient and food products is important in obtaining the right balance. To date, the utility of such characteristics and components has been limited or not as useful as possible.
Currently, time consuming elimination dietary trials are done where one ingredient at a time is removed and the remaining diet is fed for six to eight weeks to determine if the animal patient's food sensitive or food intolerance symptoms subside. Alternatively, arbitrary selection can be made of a food preparation containing limited, namely restricted antigen source, or novel, namely not fed previously, ingredients(s) are employed. Both these techniques are imprecise or indirect methods of addressing the problem.
The present disclosure provides for screening or testing animal subjects for sensitivity or intolerance relative to dietary compositions, and the testing and screening should be advantageous and commercially useful.